Nut-shelling machine



v l t v ANo. 751,377. 7 PATBNTED PEB. 2, 1904.

l C. CARR.

NUT SHELLING MACHINE.

A APPLIOATIONIILBD JAN. 24. 1903. No noDEL. l 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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` NUT SHELLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1903 H0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES Patented February 2, 1904@ l' CHARLES CARR,l orY BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

NuT-'sHELLlNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,377, dated February 2,' 1904'.

' Application tied January 24,1903.' stt-ritmo. 140,405.' (No model.)

-To a/ZZ whom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES CARR, a citizen of the United States, residing in Boston, in

The invention has for'its object an eiiicient and economical process vfor removing the' shells of nuts in Such a manner that-the kernel or the meat inside is'n'otfmutilated or broken, the shell only being cut or split, so

that thekernel may be readily removed in one whole piece or in two whole halves, which very little. Their purpose is to hold or retain the nut'when it is placed between them. until after the plunger has forced the nut onto has not he-retoforebeen successfully done.

By my method for accomplishing the above result I iirst cut ofi? with a Simple device one or both ends of the nut-shell at about the termination of the kernel or meat. ofi' of the shell ends is indispensable to Success.. I then place the nut on the cutterknives or against a movable plunger in my: shelling-machine, which -in its movement forces the nut between and past several knives arranged in thev path of its travel, the said knives splitting the shelll in several sections,

which are easily removable by hand. The devices for accomplishing this result will be hereinafter more particularlydescribed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation ofthe machine. The center line of the hand-lever G7v for operating the plunger is on the line B B. In this iigure a nut with its ends cut off is shown by dotted lines in its position when retained bythe spring-wires. y Fig.- 2 is al planof-the machine with the plunger and its guide-bracket and hand-lever removed. Figsu, 4, 5, and Gare views of the knife-carriers and the knives.

- its bottom. These spring-wires are held in This cutting i position at the upper end of the plungerby the collar provided with set-screws c4, each bearing on a springfwi're.

The plunger c may be actuated by hand or by power in any of the well-known ways. If

byhand, thearrangement is as shown in Fig.

W1.' Links c6 connect the bracket and the" short end 4of .the'hand-lever c7, whichis shown broken off forwant of space.Y The handle ofV 'l this lever is counterweighted by balles, which is adjustable by means ofthe screw onshort bottoms of the slots c2, their tension being but the knives.l The plunger c is limitedfingits movement by the stop-pin '05.

The bed c is a ii'at pla-te having four sets of.y

endofth'and-zlever. l The spring-wires c ,which 'maybe three or more in number, bear on the side of the bed cb is a hubrt. threaded at its lower`- en d for a'hand-wheel t. A'Ribs c5 on under side of table extend outward from the hub a4v and at their upper outer edge support the pins a, upon which the levers (l are piv-.

oted. Through the center of this hub t4 is a hole c7, throughrwhich the nut passes vwhen it drops from the plunger-springsc after passingthrough the knives. The machine is designed to rest on the surfaces cts.' The levers cl, of which there are six.

shown on the drawings, operate the six cutterknives e, each knife being independently operated by its lever d. Each lever has at its long end depending rods', d. hung on pins d2,

weighted box is freeto movevertically upon the hub fand is supported by Springs cl3, which encircle the lower ends of the rods CZ. The short ends of the levers d are designed to operate in holes e2, which are inthe outer ends ofthe knife-carriers 'e'. By "this arrangement-. el, the single knife controlling which passthrough a weighted box f. This weight-box being hung on the rods Z/Ltlie po# sitions of the cutting inner ends of the knives are always approximately concentric with the hole in the bed, the knives themselves being nearly radial thereto.

In operation a nut having both ends cut off is placed between the plunger spring-wires or placed on the cutter-knives, care being taken that it is so placed that the cutting-knives shall cut between the lobes of thekernel, as it has been proved to be thel most successful way to obtain whole kernels. The wire springs retain the nut, and when it is placed in the best position predetermined by experience the machine does more efiicient work. The plunger is then operated and carrying the nut retained between the wire springs it is forced between and through the knives, which split or cut the shell. When the nut strikes the knives, they enter the shell, there being no tendency at this point for them to move away from the center and they do not until the nuts increasing diameter strikes against the face e3 of the knife-carrier and then only to the extent that the nut itself moves them out through its contact with the face e3.

The weight-box f, supported by the mechanism for operating the knives in and out` is filled with sufiicient shot or other suitable weight, so that the face e3 of each knife-carrier is kept in contact with the outside of the nut-shell, conforming to all its irregularities and acting as a depth-gage for the cuttingknives. By means of this arrangement for hanging the weight-box f on springs with the cutting ends of the knives tending toward the center if a nut should have any irregularities of shape or any unevenness on its surface the knife at that point only will beforced in or out from the center by its gage-face c3, though it will keep cutting the nut-shell, the extra movement being absorbed by its spring (Z3. These springs may be regulated by the nuts on the rods d. The ends of the rods (Z bear upon the iiange of a slidable collar g, which is regulated vertically by a hand-wheel i, movable on the thread on the lower end of the hub a". By means of this hand-wheel the cutters may be set to take large or small nuts, it being onlyT necessary to run nuts of approximately the size best adapted to the given position of the knives.

The cutters e, as shown in the drawings, are made of fiat steel of thin section, only the exposed part of the cutting end being sharpened. The carriers e are slotted throughout their length at e to receive the cutters e, which are free to pass through said slot. The cutters are kept in position in the carriers by the set-screws c". These knives or cutter-carriers are free to move between guide-lugs a2 upon the bed a, being regulated and controlled in their movement by the short end of the lever (Z, which projects through holes c2. The eutting edge of the knives is on the top side of the projecting' part at inner end of carriers. rlhe inner end of the knife-carriers e are shaped as shown in Figs. 4 and 6 at c3 for the purpose of gaging the depth to which the projecting knives may cut. It is the contact of this surface e3 and the outside of the nut when the nut is descending that moves the carriers e' out, though the knives do not clear the shell or nut during its passage through or by them, for where the nuts greatest diameter has pushed the cutters way out the weight-box F,4 hanging on the long ends of the levers (l, still keeps the faces fr against the nut until it is forced through the cutters and drops clear of them. The faces a also act as guides for the descending nut, centering' it so that each knife projecting' from the knife-carrier penetrates the nut-shell so as to cut its respective section.

As shown in the drawings, the knives are in a horizontal position and are arranged approximately radial about the center line of the vertical movement of the nut. The arrangement of the knives as shown in Fig. 2 is the best for penetrating the fibrous growth between the lobes of the nut-kernel, and for this reason they are not spaced regularly around. The cutters shown side by side in the same guide (there being two pairs) have independent movement and are operated by independent levers, although each pair works in one guide. l

I do not limit myself to the specilic arrangement and relation of the various parts described herein. Radially-yielding shell-cutters have heretofore been used; but in all those which have come under my notice the knives have been pressed in by springs acting independently of each other, while in my machine all the cutters are collectively controlled by a weight common to them all, whereby the knives are kept concentric to the center line of the plunger. This weight hangs on rods connected to the bell-cranks and rests on the spiral springs which encircle the lower ends of these rods. Each rod bears its proportionate part of the weight, and each cutter may have a slightly independent movement when any unevenness of the nuts is encountered through the give of its spring, though the power for operating these cutters is the single weight common to them all.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a nut-shelling machine in combination, a bed having knife-carrier guides thereon, a plunger, a ,series of cutting-knives, carriers for cutting-knives operative in the guides on the bed, bell-crank levers for operating said knife-carriers, depending rods attached to the bell-cranks, and aweight attached to said rods, arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. In a nut-shelling machine in combination, the machine-bed with a hub on under side having a central hole extending through, a plunger movable in a line with said hole, horizon- IOO IIO

. tally-moving knives having their cutting ends approximately concentric to the said hole and .in the line of travel Vof the plunger, means for connecting the knives to a weight, and a single weight common to all the knives, connected to them in such manner that their movement is simultaneous, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a nut-shelling machine in combination, the machine-bed with hub on under side having a central hole extending through, a plunger movable in line with said hole, horizontallymoving knife-carriers approximately radiating from said hole, a single horizontally-adjustable knife within each carrier, bell-crank levers connected to the knife-carriersv and -to pendent rods, springs, one on each rod below and bearing against a singleweight, and the jsaid Weight, which acts through rods, bellcranks and knife-carriers on 'all the knives.

4.' In a nut-sh elling machine in combination,

, the machine-bed, a plunger forforcing nuts hub, a Hat-ended plunger, with means for moving same, a series of horizontally-travel- -ing single cutting-knives, their cutting ends' approximately concentric to the central holel in the bed, means for connecting the knives to pendent rods, the pendent rods, connecting with a single weight through which the rods pass, their ends resting on a collar having Vertical movement, the .-saidweight, si-A multaneously controlling all of the knives, a sliding collar, for simultaneously raising and lowering thev depending rods, thereby varying the horizontal relation o f the cuttingknives, anda hand-Wheel, for elevating and depressing the said collar, operative on 'a screw-thread at lower end of hub, arranged substantially as shown and described.

6. In a machine for shelling nuts, which have had their ends flattened by clipping, a bed-plate having a central hub'and provided with guide-bearings Vfor a series of cuttingknives, a fiat-ended plunger, with means for moving same, a seriesof horizontally-moving cutting-km ves, approximately radiating from acentral hole in the bed, bell-,cranks', rods and springs connecting the cutting-knives With a Weight common to all the knives and foi; simultaneously forcing them inward, the said weight, through which the depending rods project and bear upon a sliding collar, a slidable collar, free to move upon the central hub of thev bed'and resting, upon a hand -wheelv v and a hand-wheel free to turn upon athreaded portion of the bed-hub whereby itselevation determines the horizontal distance between the cutting ends of the knives, arranged substantially as shown and-described.

` 'i'. In a machine adapted to shell nuts that have previously'hadY their ends flattened by clipping, a bed-plate having a central hub yon under side and knife-carrier bearingsonupper side, a flat-ended plunger,`A in line with the center-of the hub, forV forcing the nut past the cutting-knives, which are arranged about a hole through the center of the hub, adjustable knives operative in the bearings lon the bed, .means for keeping'these knives iny their inmost position while at rest', and means for simultaneously adjusting the -relation of the' cutting ends of the knives to eachother, arranged substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES CARR.

Witnesses:

CHARLEs L. ELLIS, FRANK G. PARKER. 

